Profile of a column base, with three fables
Named column mouldings keyed by letter B; parables of painter, knife and mirror
The right side of the sheet carries a drawn profile of a column whose base is built up from stacked mouldings, each named in a list running down the page and tied to the drawing by the repeated letter label B: upper torus, square astragals, scotia (troclea), the little round moulding and fillets, down to the lower torus, plinth and plinth-block. Below, under the heading 'Favole' (Fables), Leonardo sets down three short parables: that the painter competes with nature; that the knife, an 'accidental armour', robs man of his nails, his 'natural armour'; and that the mirror glories while it holds the reflected queen but is left base once she departs.
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Named profile of a column base
A column base is drawn in profile and its mouldings are listed and labelled: toro superior (upper torus), astragali quadre (square astragals), troclea (scotia), orbiculo and the fillets, down to the toro inferior (lower torus), plinto (plinth) and latastro (plinth-block). Each named member is keyed to the drawing by the letter B.
Three fables: painter, knife, and mirror
Under 'Favole', three parables: the painter disputes and competes with nature; the knife, an accidental armour, drives from man his nails, his natural armour; the mirror glories greatly while the reflected queen is within it, but once she has departed the mirror is left base.